Have you ever been playing sports against people who are way worse than you? So has nearly every kid especially competitive kids like us at Regis. The natural reaction to this is to beat them and show that you are better than them.

The trend to stop these blowouts has sparked a very polarized debate, with some people wanting to let blowouts go and some want to stop the bleeding.

Blowouts should not be removed from sports. Sports are about having fun through competition. When you take out either of those aspects, sports are no longer what they are meant for. When blowouts aren’t allowed, the competition and the fun in sports are restricted for the winning team, too.

Billie Jean King once said that sports “teach you about life.”  Sometimes that means triumph, and sometimes it means putting in the effort and still losing. Kids need to learn about overcoming the obstacles that they are faced with. We need to care for these kids by teaching them these lessons through sports. No future job will give them the chance to “catch up.”

Many sports have different leagues for worse players. When kids are in it for the fun and trying to win but get beat every time, that is a great indication to move down to different league, meet new kids, showcase their abilities, and have fun with people who they better compete with.

Some of the greatest sports games are those with the greatest comebacks. Sometimes it takes losing by a lot to experience the most. This is shown through countless movies including Miracle, Cool Runnings, Rudy and many others.

Some say that these kids shouldn’t experience such a blowout and such a hard defeat at a young age, but it is these lessons that build strong individuals who can bounce back from hardship and learn resilience. Blowouts allow winning team to have their 2nd string come in. They allow the kids who aren’t as good on the winning team to get a chance. This also allows the opponents the opportunity to catch up.

Children should be pushed to learn how to be resilient, none of that comes from artificially removing obstacles or softening their defeat. We want the kind of people in this world that  can overcome obstacles from a young age and challenge themselves rather than requiring pity.